Help Snapped bolts

[Jade101]

So at the weekend I go to my bike and of course it doesn't start. At this point I am pretty sure it is my battery. It makes some noise all lights go out and bike does not start. Yey!

So I bought a charger all good. I come to take the little panels from under the seat off and the bolts snap off on both side. Not really what I wanted. The battery is on charge at the moment so hopefully that fixes that issue. But now I have two bolts snapped that are still stuck in their holes.

Anyone have some advice on getting them out? Any videos would be great! I do not have many tools so I am somewhat limited. But if needed I can ask around for some.

Just my luck hey! For now the panels might end up been cable tied on just so I am not without the bike. :smt041

[Corny Gizmo]

The panels aren't a necessity, I had none on my curvy, yeah its not nice to look at but hey.

Screw extractor kit or a dremal is a good start.

[Tamsen Cooper]

Hey Jade,

Snapping bolts sucks, I have done it too using torque wrench incorrectly! I put the video on Youtube so at least it can entertain others! Corny is right, the side panels are not essential, they do make the bike look better though.

Options;

1. Get a stud extractor if there is much of the bolt sticking out- it screws on tightly to the stub of the bolt left and allows you some turning leverage to get it out. Price- ranges from £14-28

2. Using a dremmel drill and a cutting disc, cut a slit across the top of the bolt, this will allow you to put a flat head screwdriver in the slit you have made and unscrew it like a screw rather than a bolt (if you can borrow the dremmel great, if not you can get a generic version off amazon for £22)

3. Screw extractor kit has a screw top that bites into the top of the bolt and gives it some grip to be unscrewed (£10)

4. if part of the bolt is sticking out, you might get lucky with a pair of molegrips, nice and tight and slowly twist. Might be worth squirting some plus gas (penetration fluid £4) and leaving it for 15 min to loosen it up a bit if it has seized before trying any or all of these methods!

5. You can drill out the entire bolt using a metal drill bit, this will take out the threads as well. Then use a helicoil kit to replace the threads. This will make it stronger than before and can be done if all attempts to get bolt out fail. (I have to do this for a bolt that holds on my front sprocket cover but have not yet done it or made the video!) (Helicoil kit £10 for 10 helicoils and all installation tools)

Good luck- hope you get it sorted!

[Toooldtodie]

So at the weekend I go to my bike and of course it doesn't start. At this point I am pretty sure it is my battery. It makes some noise all lights go out and bike does not start. Yey!



Check clutch switch, mine just needed to be cleaned out with electrical contact cleaner as it is exposed to all the crud off the road when it rains.

[Red Herring]

Good luck trying the various stud extractor kits. If you've already got one then fine, give it a go but don't waste any money buying them specially. If the bolt has corroded fast to the point where it has snapped the head off then you are certainly not going to be able to grip whatever is left sticking out (which isn't much on a panel fastener) sufficiently to be able to turn it. If you have access don't forget to look the other side of the hole just in case someone has put an oversize long bolt in and there is more to grip on the other side....

This leaves you various options. If there is still a bit of stud sticking out then the most successful way is to put a nut over it and then weld the nut to the stud, wait for it to cool for a while and the heat from the weld to dissipate into the surrounding alloy, and then try turning the nut with an appropriate spanner. You do of course need access to a welder to do it this way.

Failing that the next best way is to grind the top of the stud flat and completely flush with the surrounding area and use a centre punch to mark the exact centre. If you try and do this without grinding the stud down then the chances of you getting the punch in the exact centre are pretty slim...

Then get a decent drill set and drill a small hole down the centre of the stud, then using a slightly larger drill make this hole a bit bigger until it reaches the thread. The trick is not to use such a large drill that you actually cut into the thread. Once you have done this you can usually use a small sharp screwdriver to collapse what is left of the stud inwards and get it out without causing any damage to the thread in the frame. Usually worth running an appropriate tap through afterwards to clean up the thread and remove any remaining debris.

Good luck!

ps: meant to add, worth adding your location, you never know someone near you might be able to help....

[madcockney]

Similar to what RH said, but I frequently start with a small drill in the centre when its a torx or allen screw as these are normally more or less in the centre of the thread. Then I gradually open up as per RH and then use a correct size tap to cut open up the threads, though if you are lucky the screw thread will drop out with a bit of help. I have had a few fasteners fail on my K3 so have used this a few times as the extractors have proved useless and if they are really stuck in then even a hammer and punch will not always move them.

[Heorot]

The first time I took the panels off on my bike, I had a hell of a job unscrewing them. It turned out the previous owner had cross threaded them and forced them in. I didn't realise what was wrong until I tried to put the panels back on. The bolts would only go in about a quarter inch before they jammed. In the end, I had my mechanic friend look at them and he had to re-tap the holes.

[Daveog]

Options;

1. Get a stud extractor if there is much of the bolt sticking out- it screws on tightly to the stub of the bolt left and allows you some turning leverage to get it out. Price- ranges from £14-28

2. Using a dremmel drill and a cutting disc, cut a slit across the top of the bolt, this will allow you to put a flat head screwdriver in the slit you have made and unscrew it like a screw rather than a bolt (if you can borrow the dremmel great, if not you can get a generic version off amazon for £22)

3. Screw extractor kit has a screw top that bites into the top of the bolt and gives it some grip to be unscrewed (£10)

4. if part of the bolt is sticking out, you might get lucky with a pair of molegrips, nice and tight and slowly twist. Might be worth squirting some plus gas (penetration fluid £4) and leaving it for 15 min to loosen it up a bit if it has seized before trying any or all of these methods!

5. You can drill out the entire bolt using a metal drill bit, this will take out the threads as well. Then use a helicoil kit to replace the threads. This will make it stronger than before and can be done if all attempts to get bolt out fail. (I have to do this for a bolt that holds on my front sprocket cover but have not yet done it or made the video!) (Helicoil kit £10 for 10 helicoils and all installation tools)

Good luck- hope you get it sorted!

Thanks for this Tamsen - very helpful. I am trying to remove the carbs from my curvy for cleaning and cannot get the choke cable bracket screw undone (the lower one in the picture). I've put 3 in 1 oil behind it and tried a screwdriver but it is not budging. I've put a flat bit over it and tried tapping it with a hammer in an attempt to unseize it with no joy. I can feel the screw is starting to round so tried mole grips, but cannot get a good grip and the jaws of the moles are too large to get a decent turn anyhow.

Would you say it is time to invest in a dremmel?

http://www.sues-frenchcottages.co.uk/images/img_0860.jpg

[tom_e]

Thanks for this Tamsen - very helpful. I am trying to remove the carbs from my curvy for cleaning and cannot get the choke cable bracket screw undone (the lower one in the picture). I've put 3 in 1 oil behind it and tried a screwdriver but it is not budging. I've put a flat bit over it and tried tapping it with a hammer in an attempt to unseize it with no joy. I can feel the screw is starting to round so tried mole grips, but cannot get a good grip and the jaws of the moles are too large to get a decent turn anyhow.

Would you say it is time to invest in a dremmel?

http://www.sues-frenchcottages.co.uk/images/img_0860.jpg

Use some proper penetrating oil like plusgas and give it a good soak, also get a JIS screwdriver as I imagine you're trying to undo it with a normal phillips screwdriver at the minute which will end up destroying the head.

[Daveog]

Use some proper penetrating oil like plusgas and give it a good soak, also get a JIS screwdriver as I imagine you're trying to undo it with a normal phillips screwdriver at the minute which will end up destroying the head.

Thanks Tom_e, I'll see if I can find a JIS screwdriver in the toolkit - I'd never heard of such a thing, but see they are commonly used on Japanese machinary!

[Fen Tiger]

The first time I took the panels off on my bike, I had a hell of a job unscrewing them. It turned out the previous owner had cross threaded them and forced them in. I didn't realise what was wrong until I tried to put the panels back on. The bolts would only go in about a quarter inch before they jammed. In the end, I had my mechanic friend look at them and he had to re-tap the holes.

Hate it when I find evidence of a previous owner's poor workmanship. It is so easy to cross thread fixings into alloy. I always turn the bolt/screw in the opposite direction of the thread until it drops into the thread before turning it the right way to do it up. You can feel and maybe hear when the threads drop together. Much more reliable than trying to get into the thread and doing it up at the same time.